The Highacres Collegian
The Classics Go to the Movies
Maybe it’s just me, or does
there seem to be a rash of
movies based on literary
classics? This year alone
there’s "Of Mice and Men", "A
River Runs Through It",
"Malcolm X" and, the best of
the literary bunch, "The Last of
the Mohicans" and "Bram
Stoker’s Dracula."
In "The Last of the
Mohicans", Daniel Day Lewis
plays Hawkeye, a white man
adopted into the Mohican tribe.
He falls in love with Cora
(Madeline Stowe), a British
officer’s daughter. It is before
the Revolutionary War and the
English are fighting the French
for hunting and trapping rights
in the New World. The French
have enlisted the help of the
Hurons, a violent tribe upset
with English colonization. The
Mohicans, however, are
opposed to the war in general
and remain neutral.
None of this is important
save for the fact that it puts
Cora and Hawkeye in dangerous
situations and gives the audience
something to care about.
Plotwise the film is weak, the
age old cliche about good guys
fighting bad guys on die
American frontier, but visually
it is brilliant. The whole movie
looks spectacular. All cast
members, dressed in cool
costumes, could pass for models
in the latest L.L. Bean catalog
and the sets are accurate to the
smallest detail. Director
Michael Mann (Miami Vice)
stuffs the movie with
breathtaking scenery and makes
full use of the faithful script,
based on James Fenimore
Cooper’s novel and two earlier
film versions. Through Mann’s
point of view, the hills seem
lush with greenery and every
scene, especially the action ones
featuring Indian raids in
cornfields and frontier canoes
tulmbling over raging
waterfalls, grows to mythic
proportions. Even the
characters aren’t realistic. They
seem like legendary beings who
have stepped out of the pages of
American folklore, which, in a
sense, they have. The whole
film is enhanced by a superb
musical score that heightens
every scene, until finally,
during the heartbreaking,
exhilarating cliff-top climax,
everything reaches an emotional
high. Through his use of
visuals Mann creates a film
that, despite its lack of coherent
plotting, is ultimately satisfying.
Another movie that
By: Todd Ritter
looks great, but is not
downright perfect, is Francis
Ford Coppola’s version of
"Dracula", Bram Stoker’s novel
about the Nosferatu,
bloodsucking creatures of the
night. Like Mann, Coppola
visually enhances the whole
film, creating a disorienting,
nightmarish and very effective
version of the Stoker tale.
Relative unknown
Gary Oldman (Lee Harvey
dswald in "JFK") plays Dracula
and he gives a tour de force
performance that will surely
make him a star. His Dracula
is evil, yes, but vulnerable to
the love of one woman, Mina
Murray (Winona Ryder). A
fascinating prologue to the film
tells how Dracula, a warrior
named Vlad the Impaler,
became the way he is by
renouncing God. Mina is
engaged to Jonathan Harter
(Keanu Reeves), who has-gone
to Dracula’s castle on business.
Also involved is Professor Van
Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) an
expert on blood and its diseases
who must try to stop Dracula.
The film can only be
described as a roller coaster
ride that slows down only
enough to give the audience a
breather from the action. And
there is plenty of action.
Dracula transforms himself
from an old man, into a young
man, a werewolf, a pack of rats,
green mist, and, of course, a
rather large bat. Plus there’s the
usual bug-eating, blood sucking,
beheading and stake-stabbing
that is expected of any Dracula
film. In other words, this isn’t a
movie for the faifit at heart.
Unfortunately, the
movie isn’t very scary, although
it makes up for it in atmosphere
and special effects, and the
supposed heroes (Reeves, Cary
Elwes, Bill Campbell and
Richard E. Grant) seem really
dull compared to Oldman,
Hopkins, newcomer Sadie Frost,
as Lucy, Dracula’s first victim,
and Tom Waits as Renfield,
Dracula’s insect-munching
disciple. But, like "Mohicans",
the film is a feast for the senses
and Coppola directs the whole
thing brilliantly, creating what
could become the definitive film
version of the Dracula legend.
I have come to the
conclusion that, yes, there is an
unusual stream of classics
flooding the theaters this year.
Next year promises even more
literary adaptations, including
Martin Scorcese’s long awaited
version of Edith Wharton’s "The
Page 6
Age of Innocence". So until
Hollywood gets some new ideas,
I’m sure we’ll see more movie
versions of famed classics.
That’s fine with me, though, if
they’re all as good as
"Mohicans" and "Dracula."
I’m not a pervert. I was just
curious. So, on October 21,
after months of hype, I was one
of the first people to purchase
Madonna’s first literary effort,
Sex.
With two friends by my side,
I bravely walked into Walden
Books at the Laurel Mall,
intending to buy Sex. We
searched the displays, then the
new releases, then the nonfiction
and finally the Arts and
Photography section. But no
Sex could be found. The next
step was to summon up all my
courage and ask a friendly
Walden Books employee. I
boldly walked to the counter and
asked in as quiet a voice as
possible, "Do you have the new
Madonna book?" (Notice how I
didn’t ask, "Do you have Sex?")
The clerk looked at me, nodded,
and reached under the counter.
(Aha! I thought. "So that’s
where they keep them!") She
pulled out a large silver package
with a photo of Madonna in
ectasy on the front and stuck it in
a bag. I paid the $39.00 price
tag, (it was originally $5O, but I
got it on sale), took the book,
and left.
Now, I know you’re all
asking, "How’s the book?". The
continued from, pagel
Star Trek is that the human
race, flawed as we are, posses a
unique and almost magical
ability which NO other species
in the Universe possesses. We
are a precious diamond among
many jewels in the Universe.
And we have the ability and
curiosity to strive toward
unknowns if for no other reason
than to learn as much as
possible. Indeed, as many of our
philosophers, poets, politicians,
and- dreamers like to believe; we
are a most unique and
wonderful people from a most
intricate and beautiful world and
we are only now beginning to
realize this.
This tribute to the human
spirit, this television morality
lesson has taught myself and
many other fortunate people to
strive for the future, to accept
and respect that which we don’t
understand and to NEVER give
up on the ideal that we as a
people are truly an integral part
of the universe as much as the
stars are. Check your local
Fox Television listings for the
times in area, you won’t regret
it!
SEX
book itself is hermetically
sealed in a silvery pouch that
resembles aluminum foil and
it comes with a free CD of
Madonna’s new "Erotica"
single. Now what’s inside
is-well, kind of interesting.
There’s Madonna at the beach
with super-model Naomi
Campbell, Madonna with
Vanilla Ice, Madonna with a
dog (don’t ask), and, my
personal favorite, Madonna
hitchhiking through the streets
of Miami wearing only a
smile. Plus, there are a lot of
things that look awfully
painful and a running
commentary on the action by
Madonna’s alter-ego, Dita.
I’ll bet your next question
is, "Was it worth the
money?". Actually, yes, it
was. I know that $50.00 is a
lot of money for something
you can get in "Playboy", but
it is Madonna. And Warner
Books, the publisher, has
stopped printing copies, so it
will be a collector’s item in
the near future. So, if you’re
open-minded (very open
minded) and have around
$50.00 to spare, head on over
to your local bokstore and buy
some Sex.
November 1992